I like to eat, drink and be generally merry for a grumpy fat man in Tulsa, OK. I'll talk about restaurants I've tried, food I've cooked and drinks I've ordered. Take it for what it's worth...

Monday, October 31, 2011

Magnolia Cafe for breakfast

Magnolia Cafe on Lake Austin Boulevard is one of Austin's few 24 hour diners and they sling so good grub day in and day out. My first experience was almost a decade ago. It was brunch time and they were packed but I don't remember it taking too long to get a booth. They had run out of Hollandaise sauce and the waitress kept apologizing. I don't think they have that on the menu anymore but it was really good Eggs Benedict or whatever they called it at the time. I do remember it was good and I enjoyed the experience so I've been back many times.

About a year ago Steph and I stayed up late on a weekend and decided to grab a bite to eat in the wee hours of the morning. Nothing better than seeing how silly people will act after a night at the club. Steph just had to try their gingerbread pancakes and didn't stop talking about them for a week. I had something off the breakfast menu though I'm not sure what it was now. All I remember is gingerbread pancakes, two older guys talking local politics and a young couple that wouldn't stop giggling. Again, I had a good time, the staff was great and we left happy. They are setting the bar pretty high at this point.

Now it's a few days ago. Steph wanted to try the Eggscape, probably because it reminded her of the band Journey and well she loves breakfast concoctions. The Eggscape is a couple fried eggs sitting on a mound of fresh cut home fries that are nicely seasoned and mixed with a bunch of breakfast sausage. Then they cover it with a blend of jack and cheddar cheese. She didn't stop saying, "Mmmmmm" for the entire meal. I'll say she liked it. I had the jalapeno cheeseburger, medium rare. It was cooked perfectly and the meat was nice and fresh. The vegetables and bun were fresh and everything tasted great. I had home fries for my side and they were nice and soft with just the right amount of seasoning. I added a little ketchup but not too much, I still wanted to taste the seasoning.

The staff was nice and friendly and kept our drinks filled so once again everything went great on our outing to Magnolia Cafe. It's just a solid little diner.